Shattered NatsumeXEma
by Jaime L. Hatheway
Summary: Ema is in University, taking a major in Business when her friend invites her out to a party. But is there such a thing as too much fun? 3/4 Parts for this arc completed. Will be uploaded shortly. Mature Themes: Violence/Sexual Acts
1. Part One: Normal

6:00pm

The work day was winding down to an end, and lucky for the CEO of EDEN Games, this was no longer a busy time for the gaming industry. Natsume pushed back from his desk, stretched his arms up above his head, sliding his left hand to his right elbow and giving it a solid crack before releasing a sigh of relief. He reached over to close the computer files that revealed this quarter's numbers for productivity, and gathered up the papers that had everyone's hours for the payroll. He tapped them together on his desk as he got to his feet, and placed a binder clips over the top. He reached over to the back of his chair to grab his black suit jacket, and flipped it over his shoulder before walking over to Ai Nishi, the accountant, who's cubicle was stationed near the entrance and exit of the office area, "Here you go, Miss Nishi," he said, placing the documents in the bin marked "IN", "everything looks good to me, so these files are ready to be added to the accounts"

Miss Nishi quit typing for a moment and looked up from the computer. She pushed her pearl spectacles up on her nose so they aligned with her hazel eyes. Her hair was fashioned in a tight bun, as usual, and she shot him a coy smile, "Thank you, Mr. Asahina," she said, as she grabbed the papers from the caddy, "Wow, a whole week early this time" she teased, spinning her chair slightly to the side to pull up another document on her desktop. Natsume was just sliding his shoulders through his jacket, "Any big plans for the weekend?" she asked, with a slight glint in her eye. They were of similar age, but she more enjoyed tormenting him, than flirting.

With a quick pull of the jacket collar, he lifted his violet eyes to meet her gaze, "Nothing especially important," he said in his monotone voice.

"Always so serious, you need to get out more," she suggested, punching in the numbers for each employee into a spreadsheet, "I hear that there is a big party at Peshana, you know? That bar all those college kids from Meiji go to," she paused and watched his expression, which softened as he turned to her as if to hear more, "I heard it is some girl's birthday, and all her friends were taking her out. Maybe you might meet a nice girl there," she concluded.

Natsume looked at his green and black trainers, lost in thought. _Ema goes to Meiji. It's not her birthday, her's is in October. Better make sure to buy her a present_. He thought to himself, "Really, Miss Nishi? You know I don't have time for frivolous things like that," he said before grabbing his briefcase from the floor, "But I may swing by, have a good evening, Ai," he said with grin, knowing how much she hated being called by her first name.

With a slight grumble she threw a pen in his direction, which he dodged easily as he rounded a corner, "You too, NATSUME!" she screamed back, but he had already reached the elevator and was out of ear shot.

6:15pm

He soon reached the parkade and was walking to his car when his cell buzzed in his pocket. Probably one of my idiot brothers. He thought, reaching into his jacket to grab the small electronic device. He gasped a little at the subject. Ema. It had only been a few months since she started her first term at Meiji, and they had spent a family summer together in Aiba. But other than that, he had all but ignored his dear Ema. Work really picked up during the end of summer, so he hadn't even had time to take her out to finish those games at the arcade like she wanted. _I am such a jerk. Why would she want to talk to me anyway? Okay, Natsu, get out of your head and read the damn message!_

He clicked the accept button, **Hey Natsume** , he could hear her cheery voice in his head, and Natsume couldn't help but smile, **My friend Ayuma is having a birthday, so I won't be able to finish playing that level for you. I am so sorry! I know I said I would finish it and you had this big presentation you were working on, but I...** he scanned through her long apology with a grin.

"She really is too nice," he said aloud to the empty parkade as he reached the end of her message.

 **Hope you have a good weekend Ema-**

The flame haired man closed his eyes, breathed sharply through his nose and typed out his reply, **No worries. Finish your school work first, my stuff can come later. Hope you have fun tonight, if you need anything, give me a call. I'm always here for you.** And he signed off with a green heart.

Placing the phone back in his pocket, he unlocked his dark burgundy car and got in.

7:30pm

Ema had just finished her last bit of homework before heading downstairs to the main area of the compound and then into the kitchen to look at the schedule. It was very quiet as dinner was over and done with and most of the guys were off with work. Masaomi had to pull another double shift at the hospital and she hoped he was still getting enough sleep. Ukyo was busy in his room preparing for a trial that was coming up soon. She made sure the kettle was clean and on the counter so when he eventually came down for a cup of cocoa, it would all be reading for him. Kaname, who's name was not on the board anymore, was still off doing more training, and she reminded herself to check his mail like he'd asked her to, and put it under his door. Hikaru had flown to Paris to do more research on his next novel. He had told her it was going to be an exciting addition to his series, and she couldn't wait to read it. Tsubaki and Azusa were over in the United States at an anime convention. That sure was exciting. This was their first time being invited to convention overseas. Natsume, she presumed was busy with work, but he didn't live in the compound anymore, so his name was not even on the board. Louis was also at a pet styling convention, and took Juli along with him. She missed her furry companion, but was happy that he had found a dear friend in her older brother. Iori was also not on the board, as he was continuing his studies at Oxford University. She left herself a note by his name to be sure to check on his forget-me-nots. Subaru was also not on the board. So many missing names. He was still away at Kyushu training for the majors. He promised to send tickets to his first big game. Yuusuke had scarfed down his meal and rushed up to his room so he could get more studying in. They both went to Meiji but were in different classes. He said he had a big test coming up, and didn't want to be distrubed. She smiled to herself, and made sure to stock more pudding in the fridge. His favorite treat. Futo had a concert at the end of the end of the month, so he was spending his time at the studio working on choreography and would not be home for a few more days. She threw a few more bottles of water into the fridge for his eventual arrival. And lastly was Wataru, who on a field trip with his class and would be gone the whole weekend. Ema looked forward to hearing all the stories from her excitable younger brother, and let out a small giggle. That was everyone. All accounted for and taken care of. She took one last look at herself in the foyer mirror, carefully adjusting her knee length sky blue skirt, and fluffy up her white blouse. She pushed her hair behind her ears, which she left down to cover her neck in the cool autumn air, and grabbed her nice black heels and small black clutch before heading out the door. The sun was already set well passed the skyline, but there was still plenty of light to see as she made her way to the train station.


	2. Part Two: Girl Talk

9:00pm

Natsume shook the water from his ears as he stepped out of the shower, before wrapping a towel around his lower half. He lifted his watch off the sink to check the time. _Wonder if she is having fun?_ He stepped out of the bathroom and into the main room, slumping into his chair. Tsubaki curled around his left ankle and Azusa jumped into his lap. He nudged the first with his right foot, and scratched the second behind the ears before getting to his feet and walking over to his closet and opening it. He grabbed a dark green zip-up hooded sweatshirt, a plain black tee shirt and a pair of black jeans, "Maybe I should swing by to check on her," he said to the articles of clothing in his arms. His cats meowed in agreement, and he quickly got dressed, not wanting to face their wrath.

10:00pm

The five girls were having a great time. The bar Peshana was a regular hot spot for people of their age, and tonight was no different. The small but cozy bar was packed with students from all walks of life, singing and dancing, and drinking. Ema and her friends were stuffed in the back corner booth, enjoying their cosmos and discussing everyone's boyfriends. The birthday girl, Ayuma, who was majoring in Business with Ema, was boasting about her latest squeeze, Tama, a prominent competitor of Kendo. Not wanting to be outdone, Noin, a first year med student, interjected about a older Doctor who came to lecture on Pediatrics, who was definitely checking her out. Ema turned her ears on for this conversation. She heard Masaomi was doing lectures at Meiji, but stayed quiet, not wanting to hurt her friends feelings, but she didn't think her brother was interested. Another of their group, Sara, a transfer student from America sat quietly in the corner, but listened close to their conversations before ordering their sixth round of drinks. Upon Sara's return, the fifth of the party, Tsuki, raised her glass in a toast to the birthday girl. She did a lot of toasting throughout the evening, and the girls clinked their glasses to keep her happy. Ema sipped at her cosmo, lost in thought.

"Ema!" Tsuki shouted over the music and noise of the crowd, touching her friend to get her attention.

"What?" she blinked, still lost in her daydream. Or perhaps she had had too many cosmos...

"We all talked about the guys in our lives," Sara said, not even realizing that she and Tsuki had made no mention of men in their latest conversations, "So, do you have a special someone?" she pried.

With the term only barely started, and the girls only having met earlier that month, Ema had not had much of a chance to discuss her personal life, "Well, you could say I have a group of very special someone's" she said with a slight blush to her cheeks.

Ayuma all but spat her drink all over Noin upon hearing, Sara choked on the froth from her beer, and Tsuki blinked in reply, "You vixen you!" she giggled.

"You are so quiet in school, you never would know from looking at you!" Sara added with a hint of venom.

"Huh? Oh no! I didn't mean it like that!" Ema babbled, waving her hands in front of her face, "It's just I have a large family, thirteen brothers to be exact," she added before going into a brief explanation on all of them.

"Wow, you really have it tough," Ayuma said, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Good thing you don't have to spend your days in a house full of testosterone," Noin said matter of factly, pointing her index finger to the ceiling as she spoke.

"Oh, I don't think it is all that bad," Ema replied sheepishly. "They are all really nice to me, and we get along super well," she added.

"That's really sweet," Tsuki said before becoming distracted by her favorite song coming on and gasping loudly, "GUYS! It is my favorite song! Come on, let's go dance!" she said grabbing her girlfriends and lugging them out of their seats.

"Should we really leave our drinks on the table though?" Noin pointed out.

"We can order fresh ones when we get back," Sara suggested.

The girls agreed that was a safe thing to, and followed, well were dragged onto the dance floor by their spastic friend.

10:30pm

Natsume pulled into the parking lot of Peshana and locked his car, grabbing a cigarette from the glove box to calm his nerves. _You just happened to be in the neighborhood. You were meeting a co-worker for drinks._ He ran the excuses through his head as he puffed away, watching the smoke billow into the sky above. He butted it out when he had received his fix, waiting until the cherry was no longer lit before flicking it into a nearby garbage can, and tucked the cigarette pack into the breast pocket of his jacket. As he made his way to the door, and rather unseemly group of men were just ahead of him, and overheard their conversation, "I hear lots of cute college girls go to this place, maybe we can check them out," one scruffy low-life suggested.

"You would probably scare them off, you look like yakuza," another one stated. He was taller than the first, with a deeper voice.

"Look who's talking, Yama," the third interjected, "You sound like some mob boss, your voice is so low," the last one who appeared to be the youngest and wore a red blazer.

 _Tacky_. Natsume thought to himself as he stuffed his hands into his pockets, following them to the entrance.

Ema and the girls were still on the dance floor, their smiles and cheers could be heard throughout the small bar, and Natsume stayed back to observe. He had lost track of the guys from the parking lot, and his protective instincts were raging. Feeling it was the right thing to do, he made his way toward his younger step-sister. The song changed to Sandstorm by Darude, and the girls decided now was as good of time as any to take a break. He met her as she stepped down from the raised platform, "Ema," he said cooly, trying to sound surprised, and hide the fact that he had been there for a while.

"Natsume?!" she said in shock, her voice rising half a pitch at the end of his name, a slight tinge of crimson taking over her cheeks, "What are you doing here?" she asked, still trying to recover from the fact her older brother was here.

"I was supposed to meet some colleagues from work, but they bailed," he lied, reaching up behind his head to scratch the back of his neck nervously.

"Oh, I am sorry to hear that," Ema said with a bit of sadness to her tone.

Natsume simply smiled and reached over to pat her on the head, "Don't worry about it. Are you having fun, at least?" he asked letting his hand fall through her hair before tucking it back in the front pocket of his sweat shirt. The girl smiled and nodded, pointing towards her friends that had made their way back to their booth, the drinks still there as the servers had yet to bus their table, "Speaking of which, I should probably let you get back to it. Don't want a boring guy like me cramping your style," he said, turning to leave.

His sister stepped towards him in protest. _You should stay._ But she couldn't muster the courage to ask, and she didn't hold her friends in confidence with allowing him to join them. "Natsu..." her voice was quiet and trailed off.

"Oh, one more thing, Ema," he said, turning on heel and walking back towards her, "I saw some shady characters outside the bar, so be sure to walk to the train station with your friends and stay together, you never know..." now his voice started to fade out, 'How much have you had to drink?" he asked, noticing the glassy tint to her eyes from the amount of alcohol she had undoubtedly consumed.

She scoffed, "Oh, a few drinks here and there," she said cheerily, her voice in a bit of a sing-song as she motioned left and right.

With a slight scowl, he reached into his pocket for his wallet, "Maybe I should take you home now," he handed her some money, "Here, pay for another round of drinks for your friends, and let me take you home,"

Her eyebrows furrowed, she was on the offensive now, "This is not the time or place for you to play big brother, Natsume. We are fine, I am having a blast, why do you have to ruin it?" she said in a huff. The booze definitely was affecting her judgement, but having very little experience with young women, Natsume was at a loss.

"You clearly have had too much to drink." he stated in his monotone voice, "You are slurring your words, can't you hear yourself?" he raised his voice to be heard over the music.

"I am talking just fine, I'm fine. You're fine, so just go. I am not a little kid for you to boss around!" she said, stamping her foot, and looking more like a little kid than ever.

Natsume clenched his fist and fought every urge in himself to not scoop her off the ground and throw her over his shoulder, but he knew better. The bartender was already eyeing them up, and he didn't want to make an even bigger scene, "You really want me to go?" he said, staring down at her, his violet eyes burning.

She sucked in a quick breath, "More than ever..." she said darkly before turning abruptly and marching back to her friends in the back booth.

"Fine," was all he said, before pushing his way through the crowd, not caring who he bumped into, or noticing that a group of younger men were making their way to the back booths, one of them wearing a red blazer.


	3. Part Three: The Red Blazer

Still fuming, Natsume stormed his way to his vehicle, snatching another cigarette from the package in his pocket and lighting it quickly, deciding to cool his head, before making another attempt to bring Ema home. Making sure his vehicle was still locked and made his way to a nearby park.

"You ladies look thirsty," the first young man said, pulling his red blazer closer to his face as he took a seat beside Ema, "Gee, that was tough to watch," he said with fake concern.

She tensed up, "What do you mean?" Ema asked, sliding away from the gentleman.

"Oh, do forgive me. I overheard your little spat with guy in the green. Troublesome ex?" he asked, his voice with a quiet hiss.

She was silent, "I don't wanna talk about it," she said, turning away, and staring at the door.

"Say no more!" the gent in the red blazer said, closing his eyes as he raised both hands to his shoulders, "I won't bring him up again, how about a drink?" he asked again.

The other girls were laughing and having a good time and graciously accepted, Ema was reluctant but soon she agreed, "But this is my last one," she stated.

With a nod to his friend and a sneaky grin, the one who introduced himself as Yama came back with a round of drinks, "Bottom's up," he said in a deep baritone voice, placing each drink and shot in front of the girls.

Without hesitation, Ema guzzled the drinks down. The other girls finished the round of shots and the music got loud again. Her head felt funny. Maybe she did have too much to drink. She pulled Tsuki to the side, "I'm not feeling well, think I will step outside for some fresh air," she said a lot louder than she intended.

Her friend seemed concerned, "Do you want one of us to go with you?" she asked.

Ema shook her head, and slipped away from the table, but not without catching a certain man in a red blazer's eye.

The girl left the bar and looked around. The station was on the other side of the park. It would take too long to walk all that way around. Surely, she could take a short cut through. Unbeknownst to her, she was not alone.

He didn't make it far into the trees and lights before finding a park bench. He flopped onto the wooden seat, and leaned forward, resting his forearms on his thighs, and looking down at his shoes. _Maybe I should have asked her instead of trying to force her to go home?_ He suggested inwardly, watching the cigarette burn below his nose, "It's not like I was trying to order her around," he said quietly to the air, and whatever animals might be listening. _You genuinely care for her._ "I do," _Why do I have such a hard time showing my true feelings?_ He was getting angry with himself, running his fingers through his hair trying to straighten out his thoughts. _You should go back to her. Apologize._ "I didn't do anything wrong," _Go back to her._ He dropped the cigarette and ground it into the paved path at his feet before picking up the butt to throw in a garbage can. Looking up into the night sky, and letting out a deep sigh as the chilled air turned his breath to a cloud, he made his way back to the entrance of the park.

Ema didn't get far down a path before she had to stop as well, leaning against a tree to try and regain equilibrium. She placed the back of her forearm on her forehead and looked up at the sky through the sparse foliage. The world was so spinny. She looked behind her and blinked as she heard footsteps approaching.

"Leaving so soon, honey?" a familiar voice called out. "Yama, get around to the other side of her," he said to his associate, but Ema was not close enough to hear and turned to see two silhouettes in the park lamps getting closer.

 _Run._ Her body screamed at her, and she compelled her legs to move, dashing off the path and into the trees. She didn't even have enough sense to scream for help, and the moist grass only masked her foot steps, making it harder for her to pick up speed. But, unlucky for her, these men knew this park very well, and the scruffy individual and his red blazered friend were only herding her toward their third companion.

The trees flashed past her like a blur and soon she found herself in a small grove of trees with no way out, except for the way she had come, which was now blocked by those foreboding shadows, smiling down at her; their white teeth looking to her more like fangs as they advanced. She tried to speak, but her mouth was dry from running and something else that she couldn't identify. Her vision grew clouded and she felt something slam into her hard, causing her to crash onto the grass, with a slight grunt of pain.

"Looks like that new mix is working just fine," the scruffy one said, sliding his jacket off to throw under a nearby bush.

"She still has some fight in her though," Yama said in his deep voice, walking beside his companion and throwing his dark jacket onto the pile.

"Not for long," the last man said, throwing that wretched red blazer into the mix as the scared university student cowered before him, her brown eyes wide with fear.

 _Oh no! What are they going to do?_ She couldn't speak, but her mind was unfortunately clear enough to figure out what was going to happen next. _I shouldn't have drank so much._ She felt someone grab her hands and tie them together with a belt. _I should have been more careful._ The belt was latched to a tree and she felt something touch her cheek. _Why didn't I listen?_ Ema closed her eyes, trying to block out as much of her senses as she could. The grass rustled beneath their feet as the three men grew closer, building the anticipation, and the dread. She smelled their hideous musk and the salt of the tears on her cheeks. _Natsume..._ her final thought before surrendering her will to the darkness, retreating deep inside her mind to hide from the monsters before her.

Slight rustling could be heard not far from where Natsume was walking, and he immediately took notice. Straying from the path, he soon came upon a grove of trees and could make out a handful of shapes in the dim park lights. _Probably some kids messing around._ He thought to himself as he approached the cause of the noise.

"It's more fun when they cry," a male voice said, and Natsume stopped in his tracks.

"We only have a few minutes before the lights come back on. Make sure to hold her tight," a second raspy voice added.

"Don't want to get kicked like the last one, eh Hachi?" a third interjected in a deep baritone.

The flame haired man continued to advance, dreading the sight he was sure to see, but he was not about to back down, and leave some poor girl in distress. He started to sprint.

"Stay still, honey. It won't be so bad," the first voice said, before being interrupted by a raging CEO.

"Wanna bet?" was all he said, before slamming full force into the first unlucky fellow, hurtling him into the side of the grove. The second man made for a right hook, but Natsume easily dodged it and delivered a menacing upper cut. The lights on this side of the park were out, so all opponents were at a disadvantage, but the orange haired man was not letting up. He pummeled his third assailant violently in the gut, causing him to huddle over in pain.

"Hell with this," one pleaded.

"She ain't worth it," the second whined.

"Let's go," the third suggested, grabbing their jackets from the ground and retreating into the night like the cowards they were.

Standing in the grove, his silhouette was barely discernible from the foliage surrounding him, fists clenched in rage near his hips and he stood in a fighter's stance, his face turned in the direction the three attackers left in, and you could nearly hear him growl in anger. He relaxed when he was sure they were not returning and looked down at the girl he saved, "It's all right miss, they're gone," he said softly.

The park lights flickered back on, and the sight before him broke his heart, "Na..." her voice broken, her spirit shattered, her face tear stained, her eyes wide as she recognized her savior

 _Ema..._

"Oh my, God! Ema!" he dropped to his knees and quickly unfastened her hands, letting her collapse into the safety of his embrace. He gently wrapped his arms around her head, holding her close and feeling her quake in fear.

She did not even have the strength to cry, and could only silently sob in his lap, the only sound was her gasping for air as she wept.

 _My beautiful Ema._

"It's all right Ema, darling. I'm here," his voice started to crack as he too came to realize what could have transpired had he been any later, "I'm right here," he said quietly, sweetly kissing her hair. He carefully slipped his hands under her knees, "May I take you home now?" he asked gently. She nodded against his shoulder and he quickly stood, feeling her tears wet against his shoulder as they left that wretched place.

Natsume carried her bridal style to the two blocks back to his car, unlocking it with one hand and carefully setting her in the passenger seat. She quickly grabbed the arm of his shirt as he made to leave, "No," she pleaded silently.

"I have to drive. I'm not going anywhere," he patted her hand before closing the door and dashing quickly to the driver's side. After quickly fastening themselves in, the two Asahina siblings made their way home.


End file.
